Employment Quality and Self-Rated General Health in the United States: A 3-Year Observational Follow-Up Study.

Background: The typological approach of the employment quality (EQ) framework offers a comprehensive lens for assessing the heterogeneity of employment experiences while concurrently acknowledging associated health risk factors. EQ incorporates multiple employment characteristics-such as working hours, wages and benefits, and union representation, among others-where standard employment relationship (SER)-like (or high EQ) features are distinguished from nonstandard features (low EQ). Low EQ features are known to relate negatively to health outcomes.

Burden and social distribution of occupational psychosocial exposures in the United States workforce, 2022.

Objective: To characterize the burden and social distribution of occupational psychosocial exposures in the United States (US).

Methods: We merged 2022 US employment and demographic data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) with occupational characteristic data from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET), wage data from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics Survey, and hours worked from the CPS, to estimate the number and proportion of US workers at risk of exposure to 19 psychosocial hazards. We additionally estimated the number and proportion of US workers over- or underrepresented in exposure burden.

Characterizing the Burden of Occupational Chemical Exposures by Sociodemographic Groups in the United States, 2021.

To estimate the number and prevalence of workers in the United States exposed to chemical hazards available in the Canadian job-exposure matrix (CANJEM) database and examine exposure disparities across sociodemographic groups. We merged US worker demographic data from the Current Population Survey with CANJEM to characterize the burden and sociodemographic distribution of 244 chemical exposures in the United States in 2021. An interactive version of the full data set is available online (https://deohs.

What does non-standard employment look like in the United States? An empirical typology of employment quality.

Despite significant interest in the changing nature of employment as a critical social and economic challenge facing society-especially the decline in the so-called Standard Employment Relationship (SER) and rise in more insecure, precarious forms of employment-scholars have struggled to operationalize the multifaceted and heterogeneous nature of contemporary worker-employer relationships within empirical analyses. Here we investigate the character and distribution of employment relationships in the U.S.

A tutorial on a marginal structural modeling approach to mediation analysis in occupational health research: Investigating education, employment quality, and mortality.

Life expectancy inequities between more- and less-educated groups have grown by 1 to 2 years over the last several decades in the United States. Simultaneously, employment conditions for many workers have deteriorated. Researchers hypothesize that these adverse conditions mediate educational inequities in mortality.

Work-Related Factors Associated With Health and Well-Being of Early Care and Education Workers.

Objective: We assessed and examined relationships between the health and working conditions of early care and education workers.

Methods: We surveyed early care and education workers ( n = 2242) about their socioeconomic characteristics; work organization; psychosocial, physical, and ergonomic exposures; coping behaviors; and health.

Results: Nearly half of respondents reported chronic health conditions.

Association between precarious employment and BMI in the United States.

Objective: There is growing recognition that precarious employment is an important determinant of health, which may increase BMI through multiple mechanisms, including stress. It was investigated whether increases in precarious employment were associated with changes in BMI in the United States.

Methods: Data were from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth adult cohort (1996-2016) (N = 7280).

Do Different Patterns of Employment Quality Contribute to Gender Health Inequities in the U.S.? A Cross-Sectional Mediation Analysis.

Compared to recent generations, workers today generally experience poorer quality employment across both contractual (e.g., wages, hours) and relational (e.

The Inequitable Burden of the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Marginalized Older Workers in the United States: An Intersectional Approach.

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected the lives of people globally, widening long-standing inequities. We examined the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on employment conditions by race/ethnicity, gender, and educational attainment and the association between such conditions and well-being in older adults in the United States.

Methods: Using data from the Health and Retirement Study respondents interviewed between May 2020 and May 2021 when they were ≥55 years of age, we examined intersectional patterns in COVID-19-related changes in employment conditions among 4,107 participants working for pay at the start of the pandemic.

Beyond Hours Worked and Dollars Earned: Multidimensional EQ, Retirement Trajectories and Health in Later Life.

The working lives of Americans have become less stable over the past several decades and older adults may be particularly vulnerable to these changes in employment quality (EQ). We aimed to develop a multidimensional indicator of EQ among older adults and identify EQ and retirement trajectories in the United States. Using longitudinal data on employment stability, material rewards, workers' rights, working-time arrangements, unionization, and interpersonal power relations from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), we used principal component analysis to construct an EQ score.

Intersectional trends in employment quality in older adults in the United States.

Americans' working lives have become more precarious over the past several decades. Worsening employment quality has been linked to poorer physical and mental health and may disproportionately impact marginalized working populations. We examined differences in the quality and character of worker-employer relationships among older workers in the United States (US) across intersecting gender-racial/ethnic-educational subgroups.

The role of nonstandard and precarious jobs in the well-being of disabled workers during workforce reintegration.

Background: Nonstandard employment arrangements are becoming increasingly common and could provide needed flexibility for workers living with disabilities. However, these arrangements may indicate precarious employment, that is, employment characterized by instability, powerlessness, and limited worker rights and benefits. Little is known about the role of nonstandard and precarious jobs in the well-being of disabled persons during workforce reintegration after permanent impairment from work-related injuries or illnesses.

Changes in precarious employment in the United States: A longitudinal analysis.

Objective This longitudinal study aimed to measure precarious employment in the US using a multidimensional indicator. Methods We used data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1988-2016) and the Occupational Information Network database to create a longitudinal precarious employment score (PES) among 7568 employed individuals over 18 waves (N=101 290 observations). We identified 13 survey indicators to operationalize 7 dimensions of precarious employment, which we included in our PES (range: 0-7, with 7 indicating the most precarious): material rewards, working-time arrangements, stability, workers' rights, collective organization, interpersonal relations, and training.

Exploring multidimensional operationalizations of precarious employment in Swedish register data - a typological approach and a summative score approach.

Objectives This study aimed to explore multidimensional operationalizations of precarious employment (PE) in Swedish register data using two approaches: (i) a typological approach and (ii) a dimensional, summative scale approach. It also examined the distribution of sociodemographic and occupational characteristics of precarious employees in Sweden. Method Register data was retrieved on individuals and their employers in the Swedish workforce.

Life-course trajectories of employment quality and health in the U.S.: A multichannel sequence analysis.

The organization of employment in the U.S. has changed dramatically since the 1970s, causing decreased power and security for workers across many dimensions of the employment relationship.

Considering Work Arrangement as an "Exposure" in Occupational Health Research and Practice.

Most occupational health research is conducted with the so-called "standard employment relationship" in mind, which entails ongoing, full-time employment for a single employer. Yet mounting evidence suggests the way work is organized is increasingly deviating from this standard model, and that work arrangements themselves-the terms and conditions of employment such as contract type and the extent of directive control over tasks-are important determinants of worker health and safety. However, a lack of clear conceptual definitions or taxonomic system defining the wide variety of economic work arrangements in the contemporary workplace hampers rigorous investigation of their relationship to health.

Estimating the burden of United States workers exposed to infection or disease: A key factor in containing risk of COVID-19 infection.

Introduction: With the global spread of COVID-19, there is a compelling public health interest in quantifying who is at increased risk of contracting disease. Occupational characteristics, such as interfacing with the public and being in close quarters with other workers, not only put workers at high risk for disease, but also make them a nexus of disease transmission to the community. This can further be exacerbated through presenteeism, the term used to describe the act of coming to work despite being symptomatic for disease.

Retrospective cohort study of the association between maternal employment precarity and infant low birth weight in women in the USA.

Objectives: To investigate the association between maternal employment precarity and infant low birth weight (LBW), and to assess if this association differs by race/ethnicity.

Methods: Data were collected from 2871 women enrolled in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 Children and Young Adult Cohort. Employment precarity was evaluated using a summary variable that combined several employment attributes: availability of employer-sponsored insurance, income, long shifts, non-daytime shifts, availability of employer sponsored training or educational benefits and membership in a union or collective bargaining unit.

Precarious employment in occupational health - an OMEGA-NET working group position paper.

Objectives The aims of this position paper are to (i) summarize research on precarious employment (PE) in the context of occupational health; (ii) develop a theoretical framework that distinguishes PE from related concepts and delineates important contextual factors; and (iii) identify key methodological challenges and directions for future research on PE and health. Methods This position paper is the result of a working group consisting of researchers from the EU, Turkey and the USA, who have discussed the issue over the course of six months (October 2018-April 2019), meeting both online and face-to-face on several occasions. Results The lack of a common theoretical framework of PE hinders it from becoming an established part of occupational and public health research.

Evaluating Employment Quality as a Determinant of Health in a Changing Labor Market.

The shifting nature of employment in recent decades has not been adequately examined from a public health perspective. To that end, traditional models of work and health research need to be expanded to include the relational and contractual aspects of employment that also affect health. We examine the association of three health outcomes with different types of employment in the contemporary U.

Creating a Future for Occupational Health.

Objectives: Economic, social, technical, and political drivers are fundamentally changing the nature of work and work environments, with profound implications for the field of occupational health. Nevertheless, researchers and practitioners entering the field are largely being trained to assess and control exposures using approaches developed under old models of work and risks.

Methods: A speaker series and symposium were organized to broadly explore current challenges and future directions for the occupational health field.

Dermal absorption of benzo[a]pyrene into human skin from soil: Effect of artificial weathering, concentration, and exposure duration.

In vitro assessments of C-benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) absorption through human epidermis were conducted with the sub-63-μm fraction of four test soils containing different amounts of organic and black carbon. Soils were artificially weathered for eight weeks and applied to epidermis at nominal BaP concentrations of 3 and 10 mg/kg for 8 or 24 h. Experiments were also conducted at 24 h with unweathered soils and with BaP deposited onto skin from acetone at a comparable chemical load.

Mesothelioma associated with use of drywall joint compound: a case series and review of literature.

Background: Drywall joint compound contained asbestos fibers, primarily chrysotile, in the 1950s through the 1970s. Workers in a variety of construction trades and homeowners were exposed to respirable asbestos from the use of these products, including during handling, mixing, sanding, and sweeping. Disturbance of in-place asbesto-containing joint compound continues to be a potential source of exposure during demolition or repair of wallboard.

Benzene-contaminated toluene and acute myeloid leukemia: a case series and review of literature.

We report seven cases of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with occupational exposure to a toluene-based hydrocarbon solvent. The cases were employed at a facility, which manufactured rubber belts and hoses, between 1950 and 2005 for periods ranging from 21 to 37 total years. Detailed histories were obtained for three workers who were diagnosed with AML within a 3-year period (2003-2005).